Do you wanna build a daughter? [Sousuke/Open]

[Teke]

There she stood, face to face with the front door to the house and honestly it was one of the most nerve-wracking things she'd ever had to endure. Coming home on a normal day was whatever, coming home from a mission a little banged up and bruised was cause for a little concern but it's part of the job. Walking in covered in bandages once again and missing a pretty large piece of her body? The lectures alone were enough to make her second and third guess even opening the door up. There was going to be a lot of explaining either way and hell, the person she needed to build her a new arm was also the person she was dreading telling the most so it was all a big mess. With a long, drawn-out sigh she pushed open the door and stepped in, calling out. "I'm home" She called out, waiting a moment in complete silence, stage one complete now time to search the place. She started by moving u to Sousuke's bedroom but found nothing and assumed he or someone would have answered if they were on the first floor so she went down into the basement and again empty. "Well... I can prepare myself a little more then, right?" She spoke to herself as she made her way to her own room, trying to think of where and how until she had an idea.

Pulling on her headset she tuned into the ANBU channel and spoke in a somewhat defeated tone. "Bodybag here, Anyone got eyes on Sousuke?" There was silence for a few moments and she asked again, eventually, she would be given her answer and roll her eyes. "Meeting more upper class for another party huh?" The location she'd been given was in the crystal district which could only mean that that's what he was up too. Whether he enjoyed it or not was unknown to the girl, all she knew was that he'd been doing a lot of Shmoozing since stepping down, part of his new position? She certainly didn't know. "Well... better dress the part I guess." She spent the best part of an hour struggling to dress herself, a task she wouldn't miss once her new arm was in place, if he agreed to build it for her of course, he could always refuse to punish her for being careless but, was he like that? She got herself dressed up appropriately for the area she was going to walk in to and went on her way.

She'd never spent this much time in the silver or golden districts, it was just a world beyond her patience and comprehension, also it was policed quite a bit more heavily and when she was looking for food the poorer areas just made it easy work, but that's the past now and she was soon stood in front of a building, looking at the door whilst she mentally steeled herself. "Well, here goes something." She said to herself before moving into the establishment. The place was filled with men and women dressed up nicely and chatting with one another, soft music played through the room obviously so as to not distract from any business that may be happening throughout the event. Immediately Teke felt out of place, even if she was dressed up nicely, she still stood out what with her bandaged left shoulder and lack of arm. She started to move into the crowd before being stopped by a burly man who'd been watching her since she entered. "Private party miss, can I see an invitation." She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Wasn't invited, I'm here to see someone about something important." He looked her up and down and then right into her eyes. "Who is it you're looking for?" She put her hand on her hip and said. "Takahashi Sousuke. My father. I've recently come back from a trip and need to speak to him urgently about a few... Developments." As she spoke she moved her right hand over to her left side, stroking the bandages to emphasize just what the news would entail. "Or you can go find him and tell him you refused his injured daughter entry." She grinned, letting the words sink in for a moment, her smile telling him she wasn't fucking about. "Fine, but I'm watching you." She moved past him, looking back and giving a wink. "Don't look too hard now." She teased and moved into the crowds to begin her search.

As she moved through the crowd, a waiter came by with a tray, offering out drinks, now Teke had drunk alcohol before and it really disagreed with her taste buds, maybe because she was younger... or in a younger body at least. She stopped the man and took a glass, downing it in one mouthful before placing it back and picking up another. "Thanks." She said with a no of her head before moving on, sipping at the liquid. Somehow it still didn't taste fantastic but, it was certainly not as offensive as previously and it was growing on her bit by bit. Eventually through the sea of upper-class chatter and laughter she spotted him, but instead of walking up to him, she moved into a position where she would be in his eye-line and waited to see if one, he noticed she was looking over at him and two, if he recognized it was her, she looked different for sure but, it was still clearly Teke if you looked long enough, just a lot taller and womanly.


[WC - 933]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke sat at the bottom side of the table. Sitting at the head was a young woman who was just a few months behind Sousuke in terms of age. She had a very full being and wore maybe a bit too much red. She was what Sousuke might describe as a handsome woman. Usually it the Steward at the head of the table. but not today. The woman sitting next to him was the birthday girl. She was Nobu's middling daughter. The Akamichi lord had for some time been trying to pair one of his daughters with the Steward. There were socio-political reasons for that, let alone the fact that the Steward had been through ... only one or two girlfriends. Sousuke leaned forward on his forearm. "Oh please."<i></i> Sousuke spoke up, "I've known at best three tailors. The only one I trust is myself."<i></i> The Steward had his purple hair cut and styled, but it still remained spiky. He wore his usual jewelry being the golden bang earring and two rings on his right hand. There was some silly remark fired back at him. "I believe in supporting the economy. I picked up these fabrics myself. There's that fine little corner store on..."<i></i> Sousuke continued the story. He wore a three piece suit which today was two different shades of green which meshed well together. It was starting to become the norm now, considering that he was wearing fabric and not sheet metal. All part of a new design. Every once and a while his eyes should shift to the lady on his right being Nobu's daughter, and the other was to keep an eye on the room. Ever since Teng and Tama, the Steward was being mindful of his surroundings. The woman would inquire if everything was fine, he would nod his head. "Haven't seen any ghosts yet. Wouldn't be a good thing on your birthday."<i></i>

The Steward treated the birthday to a dance. It might have looked slightly awkward if only for the fact she was taller than him. That being said, it was not expected that the Steward was a good dancer. His specialty was in ballroom dance, which the room was not designed for but remarkably he was able to make do. Nobu sat at the other end of the table. The blonde giant having a smile on his face. His business partner tapped him on the forearm and made a gesture about the couple. "Sousuke and her? Possible. Probable. Ever since that lass Yume had retired, I don't think I've seen Sousuke with a girl on occasion. There was that white haired one, but that was ... different."<i></i> The two would return to the table. Nobu would drink deeply of his red wine.

Sousuke took his seat and gave the room a hidden look over. Ghosts was putting it mildly. The Steward tried sitting with his back to a wall usually. He watched as the door opened and another person made their way in. Curious that. Secondly the person letting the person in was doing so with a hesitancy. He was observing the individual who was a female. The Steward stared and froze time in his head. Within a few seconds, the two were staring back at each other. "Teke."<i></i> He spoke more for himself. He was then immediately asked if he was alright. "Perfectly fine. Excuse me for a moment. Going to walk some of these calories off."<i></i> He would make his way done to Teke, who ... lost an arm and grew up ... magically ... in the time span of two weeks. The Steward would place his index finger on his forehead. He was taking in the details. "Please don't tell me sorcery was involved. Losing an arm I can deal with, but unlike when I lost my legs I'm not going to make weird verbal explicative about it."<i></i>

 

[Teke]

The really wasn't her scene, she'd listen in on conversations as she walked past people in the crowd and just understood so little of it that it made her head spin. The wine or whatever it was, she truly didn't know, was exceptional though and she found her eyes darting about actively trying to find the waiter again even whilst trying to keep an eye on Sousuke and grab his attention. When she finally did spot him he was sat at a table with a few other people, including a woman who she'd obviously no clue as to her identity but they seemed to be in mid-conversation. Enough time passed for Teke to acquire her third drink and at this point, she was starting to feel that warmth and lightness to her body that comes a little way before being drunk and she was loving it. It was around this point that she'd spot her father looking at her and would just smile one of her signature toothy shark grins, stood in the middle of a party she likely had no business being at, wearing a nice, black cocktail dress and heels but with bandages still on her body it kind of took away anything from how normal she might have otherwise blended in. She would watch as he quickly excused himself to make his way over to her and took in a few deep breaths, expecting the worst but would he make a scene in the middle of a place like this? Yeah probably if this fuck up was enough to warrant it.

She could only laugh at the first thing he said to her after reaching her. "I'd be lying if I said any of this could be explained easily... or at all for that matter." She took a sip from her glass and looked at her arm before letting out a gentle sigh. "It could have been sorcery, honestly I just assumed it was a type of jutsu the Kami used, seemed pretty similar though the effects were pretty crazy sometimes." As she said this she motioned her head over to her arm, remembering back to the stupidity of it all, who even uses a dead man trigger these days, sore losers that's who. "That aside, you know what I'm going to ask you for. But I feel kind of bad just interrupting your date." She said with a chuckle, nudging at him with her elbow whilst trying not to spill her drink everywhere. "I just figured that once I was able to actually move you'd wanna know what's up so, here I am!" She grinned, this was probably going to take a while and no doubt there would have to be an explanation of some sort because who could just walk away from something like this and not have a million questions. "Unless you'd just like to introduce me to your lady friend who's looking over here pretty hard." She teased, leaning around to get the woman in the line of sight and waving with her glass before moving back and taking another sip, she's glad she decided to drink for this, even if it was completely by accident.

[WC - 533]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke gave Teke a long deadpanned stare. It was the sort of look one might give when they were actually dumbfounded. After a few moments of mulling it over in his head. Sorcery. This was sorcery. Ever so slightly Teke would see Sousuke frown. "A Kami. You ran into a Kami."<i></i> His eyes shifted to the side. "Alright. I've run into strange things too. Must be a family thing. An acquired characteristic."<i></i> He would say. It was perhaps the most absurd thing to be said. Only a while ago did Sousuke land himself in the hospital for fighting a creature of darkness and flame. It was something that hurt him. Teke didn't know about that one. There was a lot of things that Teke did not know. Maybe it was for the better. Maybe it was for the worst. Sousuke would look over to the glass in Teke's hand. He would give her a hard look. "Your body may have aged, but you're probably not mentally ready for that stuff, or what it may do to one's senses."<i></i> It was perhaps the most Father-like thing he could say at this moment. There was a long pause. His brain was trying to put together the concept of Teke being older now in terms of her physical body, but mentally she was still very much a teenager. Maybe she wasn't that much older, but still ... something had to be said about what she was doing. There was an element of the disapproving dad looking being given.

Teke spoke of Nobu's daughter. He would turn around and look back. "Ah. Yes."<i></i> He mused. "Her name is Sakura."<i></i> He explained. "It's her birthday tonight. I was invited because ... her father..."<i></i> Sousuke motioned over to Nobu who was cracking open a bottle of brandy and making a joke. Nobu was very much the larger than life type of person. "Lord Nobu is one of my Nobles who's supported me since day one. He's ... quite apt at throwing parties and the likes."<i></i> He was thinking it over in his head. He would motion for Teke to come with him. He would return to Sakura. "Sakura. This is my ward Teke."<i></i> The Akamichi heiress would look at Sousuke, and then back to Teke, and then back to Sousuke.

"Dad says people in your family tend to lose an arm. Happened to your grandmother. Happened to you ... and happened now to your ward. I didn't think it was really a thing, but it is. I need to learn to take my Dad more seriously." The woman would nod her head at Teke and offer a hand out to her.

 

[Teke]

Teke would smile innocently at the mention of the glass in her hand, honestly, it was more about being nervous than anything and she was smart enough to know that it could help with that but it also just tasted kinda nice at this point. "I mean... I was nervous and I needed something okay? This dress isn't even meant to be this short! I haven't had time to like, buy new clothes, I got out of the hospital and came searching for you." She said with a hint of that nervousness still present but slowly being drowned away by the alcohol. "Also, it wasn't "A" Kami it was at least several dozens, maybe over a hundred that all wanted me dead save for... him." She sighed, the memory was all still fresh in her mind and she would no doubt get emotional if she tried to recall and tell the story here and now and that didn't seem like the most sensible of decisions. She took her glass and downed the rest of the bubbly liquid in one gulp. "The easiest way I can explain it right now is... I am part Kami and the Kami don't like when human and Kami mix. I did have some Youkai in me too but, I've purged it and... can eat and drink normally now I think, so that's good right?" She tried to shine a positive light onto her totally mental explanation, she knew he'd at least trust that she believed what she was saying but if he would fully believe it all himself was a separate question.

Her eyes would follow as he introduced and explained who these people were and why he was here and honestly, she was a little surprised she'd not heard of any of them before, was she that self-centered before? Yeah, she was and she knew it and that made her feel just a little bit of a huge asshole. She really didn't know all that much about anything going on in the village, politically or otherwise but now that she wasn't constantly hungering and could think straight she was going to change that even if it was only a little bit at a time.

She would see Sousuke's head motion and follow him along, back to his table, discarding her now empty glass at the nearest convenience when a waiter walked past. She would stand with a smile and bow slightly as she was introduced, it was a bit embarrassing actually. She would let out a small chuckle as Sakura listed off the list of arms the family line had lost and it did seem to be more of a coincidence than you'd normally be comfortable with and she couldn't help but feel she'd fallen into some sort of curse. She would reach out and take the ladies hand when it was offered and smiled. "Well, hopefully, it won't be gone for too long, getting dressed with one arm is a bitch." She joked. "It's a good lesson on ego though, you're never as strong as you think you are... but if someone takes a piece of you, kill their ass real good." A strange way to word it but the best her mind could muster at the moment.

[WC - 545]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke continued to give Teke a long hard stare when she spoke of being nervous and needed something. There was a long pause. Sousuke detected the nervousness. Luckily Teke was not going to have same alcohol experience he had when he was much much younger. It was at one of Nobu's parties. There was a momentary twitch as a frown appeared. It was fleeting and disappeared quickly enough before Sousuke's face returned to that resting neutral look. It was odd. His brain was working hard to digest the narrative that was put together. It was something that seemed familiar. "Just ... stick with me."<i></i> He finally said. Sousuke's brain was trying to figure out things. Teke was now ... not entirely human. That was the best he could get from this. Part Demon. Part Kami. Alright. At least not Part Ancient. That was perahps the best part. Given what Michi had told him, Sousuke would need hundreds upon hundreds of chickens to feed her decently. At the mention of being able to eat and drink properly, Sousuke turned his head. "That'll please my father greatly. He'll probably be having mother cook like multiple pine apple cakes, and then he'll be fattening you up with them ... because they're so 'gosh darn delicious'."<i></i> Sousuke made the quote symbols when he spoke his father's words. It was a curious thing. Sousuke's parents took a liking to Teke. His grandmother didn't, but remarkably his father did.

Sakura and Teke were cordial enough to each other. That was good. The fully framed woman exchanged glances between Teke and Sousuke. "You two don't share the same hair colour, or build. That's not a bad thing." She then pointed to his eyes and then to Teke's. "Both of you do have golden eyes. I mean they're different eyes. Sousuke's are more ... narrowed and thinking. Teke's are ... full and wild." She observed. The woman smiled. She was trying to break the ice. She had heard her father speak of how Sousuke had no child, but he had an adopted one. At best, Sousuke was married to his work, and at worst it could have been described that he was addicted to his work. This was a man who loved Sungakure dearly, and had put it at the forefront for most of his natural life. Sakura raised her hand and looked at her fist when Teke spoke of 'kill their ass real good'. Sakura had survived the Cabal invasion. "Haven't had to do that just yet, but I'll make note of doing so. I've been told I have a real mean left hook."

"I suppose ... I've been actively doing that. There was a time I was devoured by a sea monster. It claimed my knees and beneath that. I ... proceeded to give it heart failure. Literally."<i></i> He mused out loud considering the instructions that Teke had given. "A sandworm ate my arm. Lord Katuso killed, it and ... I may or may not have proceeded to overkill it. That was a thing."<i></i> Sakura's eyes widened for a moment, but then she smiled brightly. Curiously Sousuke left out the situation with his eye. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it openly, or maybe it was the fact he did not 'kill Tama's ass real good'.

"Dad often says the most extraordinary things happen to you. He thinks it is bad luck." She mused out loud in return. She turned to Teke, "Do you believe in bad luck?" She queried. Maybe both Teke and Sousuke were both victims of bad luck. Sometimes it occurred in spades.

 

[Teke]

Teke would shake her head at the thought of food being forced upon her by her possibly soon to be, overbearing grandparents. Sure she could eat and even enjoy normal food now but that didn't mean she knew what she liked still, she'd stuck to meat for the most part since that was similar in many ways to human, just cooked. "Well, I don't even know what I like eating at this point... spicy food was interesting and I mean, chickens pretty good but I've been taking it slow. I don't know if I'll even like sweet stuff, it's a little scary to be fair." She said with a soft smile. "Exciting but scary. I just want to take it slow and learn all this... human food?" She phrased it as a question but it was more to herself than anyone else, was it okay to still call it human food at this point? She was still more than human, evolved beyond but it just didn't feel right anymore, she wanted another drink as soon as possible.

She tried to steer her mind away from such strange thinking quickly and thankfully Sakura seemed all too willing to be the distraction she needed. "I guess the eyes were the sign that we were meant to be, huh?" She laughed, thinking back to their first meeting, all she'd wanted was a pardon from the asylum, she was fed up of being treated like a lab rat for their silly games. She hadn't thought about that place for quite a while and surprisingly she didn't feel the surge of anger boiling up in her belly like she used to, she did feel a need to never look at the place again in her life but the fact that the anger had softened was an interesting change in her mindset. She would laugh at the comment about the left hook though, she didn't know anything about this woman so she had no reason to not believe her. "I was getting pretty good with my lightning left jabs myself, it's like they never expect it." She giggled, being trained in hand to hand combat really opened up your eyes to just how wrong people tend to get it.

She would list off each of Sousuke's tales in her head, mentally noting which ones she knew about and those she didn't, though he was usually open enough with her about that stuff... eventually. "See, only one of my injury stories involve me fighting something crazy, outside of that I've blown myself up, twice and turned part of Godsfall into a glass plate." She would laugh, maybe a little too hard as the effects of the alcohol slowly started to move into her bloodstream but would nod vigorously in response to the bad luck comment. "My life's been a roller coaster of good and bad luck, every time I get something nice, I get slapped to the ground... I mean, if a god gave you their power, you'd think it'd be safe, right!?" She asked, eyeing both Sakura and Teke as if waiting for an answer. "But... I get it now... and I can kinda control it. wanna see?" She said, though wasn't so much as asking as she was telling them to watch and be in awe... how she even got on to the topic is astonishing, drunk logic would be the likely thing to blame.

She took a step back from the table, it looked a little like a stumble but she managed to stay on her feet perfectly and she wouldn't hear any objections as she closed her eyes and started to focus on her breathing. "First seal, release..." She whispered and instantly she felt that warm glow start to rush through her, it still felt as good as she remembered. "Second seal, release..." She said softly again but now, as the chakra started to rush through her body it had an unexpected effect on her exterior that she didn't notice alongside the expected golden aura. All up her right arm, shoulder and onto her chest appeared a series of strange, glowing shapes, likely runes that were kami in nature. The one on her chest seemed to glow in quite a different manner, however, as if it were light itself, pure and white compared to the golden tint of the other markings. Oblivious to this effect Teke opened her eyes, expecting to see the glowing aura and nothing else. "See? It's all gold and warm!" As she said this a series of magenta sparks flashed through the aura as the Lightning and Holy chakra interacted with one another. "But, it also makes me super fast and strong, I can just...feel things better, I can't explain it really." She laughed, doing silly poses as she showed off what she thought was just the aura.

[WC = 809]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Thankfully the roller coaster didn't stop on the highest or the lowest point."<i></i> The Steward remarked when Teke made the comparison to her life being a roller coaster. It would perhaps be quite terrifying if one was stuck at the top for such a long time, awaiting for the long plunge down. "I'm actually ... very thankful for that."<i></i> He would add in a lower voice. Sousuke considered his own life, he had been stuck in a perpetual state of highs and lows. The Steward thought more so when Teke spoke of a deity granting one a blessing. Sousuke would grow sullen, as Shouki came to mind as did the Sunahoshi clan. What was the difference between a blessing and a curse? Shouki was granted with eternal return, but it must have been wretched in some manner. This was awkward. Katuso on the other hand was 'blessed' but was really 'cursed' by Mother Suna. It was something of a matter of perspective. Sousuke saw the worst of it. Was Teke subject to a curse, or a blessing?

Whereas Sousuke became silent and sullen, Sakura seemed to be interested. The Akimichi female looked intently at Teke. She watched with interest as Teke was powering up. All the lights and the runes. Sousuke's eyes focus as he snapped back into focus. It was a similar. Sousuke had seen this before as Katuso had done this. Roku too was able of becoming faster and stronger too, but Roku did not turn golden when this happened. Sakura clapped her hands together looking quite pleased and amused by this transformation. "That's really neat. It's like you're a... night light! Has the glowing ever annoyed you yet? I mean ... sometimes it might give off your position right?" Sakura inquired. Sakura did her own flexing, which showed her own muscles. Sakura was surprisingly for her size was actually quite a bit more fit than one would imagine.

Teke would have joined the dinner party just before dessert. Sakura would rise up and take center stage. She would proceed to give a speech about how she was very pleased and happy to see everyone at the table. Sousuke leaned back into his chair as he listened. He spoke lowly to Teke. "I suppose the only problem here is creating an arm to interact with your new powers."<i></i> He spoke with a pause. "So... provided that you've age-jumped ... do we know at all if you're going to keep aging or are you going to revert back into a teenager? Time is a strange thing, and it is not something that one should tamper with."<i></i> He added with some genuine concern. Tama had somehow messed with time and became older at one point, but now he was younger. Sousuke on the other hand? He just wasn't aging. Sousuke had looked the same for far too long now. He considered it merely being he was ... lucky? Now with what happened to Teke, he was starting to make a different consideration.

 

[Teke]

Teke was quite pleased with the attention from the Akimichi woman, she seemed quite joyous with the transformation and Sousuke didn't seem to be against it which in her eyes could only, hopefully, mean he didn't disapprove of it at least. She took a moment to think about the questions put forth about it and honestly these were concerns she'd had floating in her head but with how little time has actually passed she'd not used them enough to work things out completely. "Well, from what little I have used it I would think this is something you use once you're caught and a fight is inevitable, works out for me though because I love a good fight." She giggled as she allowed her aura to flash off and her body powered down, the runes on her body remained for a few moments after before slowly fading, all except for the one on her chest which simply dulled to look like a tattoo of sorts. Teke at this point would find herself a seat at the table with the two of them, commenting on how big Sakuras muscles were with another giggle of excitement that could only come from alcohol consumption.

After a little more small talk, Sakura needed to make a speech to the whole room, giving Sousuke and Teke and moment to chat quietly amongst themselves. "Honestly, I have no idea. Logically I would say my body reacted to a small bubble of time distortion as I left the universe I was in and it is now gone so, I am what I am and will continue to age like a regular girl from this point." She gave a soft shrug, that was honestly her best guess, with the other universe now closed of fully from this one and frozen, meaning no one from there could attempt to follow her she felt pretty safe in the assumption that this was a one-time thing. The arm she wanted to be built however was a discussion that would take a little more talking than some whispers during a party but, she would get across her ideas as best she could, she was actually quite excited about the idea. "Obviously we need a strong material for at least the skeletal structure of it but I would like to have the exoskeleton be something highly conductive and strong. I'd also like it to be fully connected t my nervous system, I'm not sure how advanced you are in that department but, if Tama is still around? Though I get the feeling he doesn't like me I also feel like he won't say no to you either." She gave a cheeky smile, slowly piecing together her plans for the arm. "Oh and don't worry about the electrical discharge from the conductive metal, my body will eat it up happily, just one of those things that might be good to know, I'm like a battery." She could happily pull out some paper and pencils and start to scrawl down her ideas but the timing and place didn't seem as if they'd appreciate that. "That said, I know this will take a while to get set up and stuff so, I can make do with just the one for a while, nothings been too difficult for me yet, except finding clothes that fit but I'll deal with that in the morning I am sure." She laughed quietly, putting a hand over her mouth to muffle it and not distract from the speech.

[WC - 587]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

It seemed like Teke was going to age at a normal rate. That much was good. It would be very awkward if in three weeks Teke was a little old woman. It would be slightly awkward having to check in on an elderly Teke if she was taking the proper medication. With age came all sorts of problems. There were lapses in memory, there was decreased stamina, and there was frailty. It was not something pleasant to think about as Sousuke made these considerations in his mind as to what might happen if Teke were to continue to age at a rapid rate. "I suppose ... I suppose that is for the best. One losing their time, no matter how small, can truly be a disturbing thought."<i></i> The odd part in that was that Sousuke aged slowly himself. He was still relatively the same person since Teke had met him, except for his injuries.

Teke would then speak of the material they would need for her arm. When she spoke of having it connected to her nerve system, Sousuke's face turned into a frown. "Doing that hurts. Alot. It's also quite messy, and that is speaking from experience. When I did it in the past, there were at least three medics watching me do so, and most of them turned pale when they saw the amount of blood and strange expressions my face made."<i></i> One could say that Sousuke was a pioneer. He would mull the thought over in his head. He didn't really want to subject Teke to that sort of thing either. "Tama ... Tama has problems with those of the female gender. It's not that he doesn't like you, it's that he had a very traumatic even happen to him when he was younger. In short, he's fearful of women and what they have the capacity to do. I think he ... he is of the mind that women have an even greater capacity to do things for good or for ill than what men can."<i></i> He tried to explain. It was complicated and something he was capable of sympathizing with.

Teke then proceeded to give him more and more details about the arm she wanted. This was not going to be a hard thing. This was going to take some time indeed. "I'll try and see Tama about this, but Tama is ... different from when you've seen him last."<i></i> Sousuke wasn't quite sure how to explain how or why of it. "I have a few older models of the arm I could ... loan ... they work slightly differently and probably will not be able to do exactly what you wanted. Still though it's not a good thing to go without a limb for a long time, and then reacquire one. The learning process of going with and then without then back to win can be very taxing on the human mind."<i></i> By this time the speeches were done and Sakura would be coming back to the end of the table with cake for both Teke and Sousuke. She smiled at the two of them and returned a moment later with one for herself.

 

[Teke]

Teke would think about the process of not having a limb whilst one was being built and she saw the logic behind the idea. It hadn't really been all that long since she lost it and even then she could still feel the arm there, yet not and it was quite painful and the process of going from a real arm to none, to an arm probably not even the right size coz, even with this growth spurt Teke was still average height for a girl and thin, nothing like Sousuke so his arm could do more harm than good in her mind. "I don't, I don't think a hand me down really works with things like that, it'd be like, borrowing a show four times too big whilst yours are being fixed." She would say softly, again it wasn't that she didn't appreciate that going without for so long would lead to loss of "muscle memory" or whatever the brain to muscle equivalent of that it.

She would chuckle at the thought of Tama being afraid of her simply because she was female and she would certainly not plan to use that information for her own fun and games. "So, Tama doesn't hate me, he just wants to continue to avoid me, as he does?" She laughed. "I dare say I look quite different to last time he saw me too so the feeling will at least be mutual in that regard." How much could he have changed really though? Outside of what? A body swap jutsu that she was pretty sure was illegal and if not, really difficult to track down, learn and use.

With all that aside, she felt like the arm had to be more than, just a replacement, a prosthetic stuck on because she wanted an arm there. Perhaps a full on nervous system would be too much for her to handle and maybe so far advanced that it would be riddled with errors and bugs which no one wants to deal with. "Perhaps not a full nerve connection then, but I would like to feel it, I don't want it to be just a replacement, you know? I want to trick my brain into believing it is every bit as real as a normal arm, so I don't have these stupid phantom pains." She would shiver a little and groan under her breath as just the act of thinking about it caused a throb of pain right where the arm would be. She did her best to ignore it but it would be written on her face and it was at this point the cake arrived. The girl would look up at Sakura and give her best smile, this would be her first cake and though she was cautious about it she would try it, taking a bite and giving it a moment as her brain processed it. "Interesting... it's certainly nice but, getting used to sweet things is going to be difficult I think." She was also having sugar for the first time and for a body not used to it, the buzz followed by the crash was pretty heavy.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Phantom pain?"<i></i> Sousuke would question. It was a foreign term to Sousuke. Then again he had a metal arm for a long time. He began to recollect old memories of when he didn't have his arm, or his legs. It felt like ages ago to be honest. "Phantom pain usually has something to do with the spine I've been told. I would rather not mess with the spine of an individual. There is untold amounts of damage one can do to another when they target the spine."<i></i> Sousuke looked down at his own arm. It didn't feel foreign to him, and it felt normal to him. He would close his metallic fingers together and form a fist. He would then unfold the fist. He would quietly consider his past experiences. The closest time he had come to phantom pain was perhaps when he had lost his legs? Again, if felt like it had been a long time ago. "I am not toying with your spine for the record."<i></i> He would add.

Sakura would look over at Sousuke when Teke spoke of her getting used to sweet things, and it was going to be difficult. "Do you feed her vegetables and meat all the time? Have you never given her a cookie or ice cream or anything?" Sakura would ask giving Sousuke a sort of shocked look.

Sousuke's expression was a difficult and perplex one to read. He looked over to Teke and then back over to Sakura. He would then look down at the plate. "Teke isn't really into vegetables. She enjoyed several rare cuts of meat."<i></i> He would simply state. He was being cryptic about it because it was not going to make nice table talk to open say that his ward used to have cannibalistic tendencies that were ... not entertained. Sousuke did try cooking meat for Teke but the Steward if anything was a disaster when it came to cooking. He somehow had flavours inverted when he cooked, or what he produced simply had no taste to it. It was a very perplexing skill he had and it was very frustrating. "I suppose Teke will finally have the ability to ..."<i></i>

Sakura would placed both of her hands down on the table. She would have this delightful look on her face. It seemed like she was genuinely excited to meet a person who was going to experience flavours for the first time. "So what you're saying is Teke will get to experience sweet, sour, hot, cold and ... flaming chili flavours?"

 

[Teke]

It was a bit of a shock to Teke that Sousuke of all people was unfamiliar with the term phantom pain, she'd experienced it instantly after losing the limb and even now it ached, she kept going to use the arm and hand to grab things only for it to send a small spike of pain as a reminder. "I can still feel them, my arm, even my fingers. The body I lost, the comrade I lost won't stop hurting. It's like they're still there. You felt it too, right? At one point?" She would question, it was surely impossible for him not to have at least once felt those sensations, the human brain just didn't work like that which was probably for good reason. "Well, my spine is fine at the moment, I think it's more of a brain issue which will hopefully be fixed when I get a new arm." The short amount of time she'd spent with an arm made of lightning gave her a little hope as it seemed to trick her brain into believing the real thing was still there and moving but only time would tell in this case.

Teke would smile and nod along with Sousuke's explanation of her previous dietary requirements, she was aware that it could and probably would not set a good mood in the middle of a fancy party like this. "Exclusively meat, my body was... wrong, it just wouldn't accept anything else without making me violently ill. Now that the cursed blood is being purged I'm showing more... human characteristics." Hopefully that would suffice for her part of the explanation, even if it pained her to call herself more human she didn't want to lie about it as she was in no way ashamed of what she had been eating up to this point and still had a craving for, it was just much easier to ignore and keep in check now. In context, Sakura's reaction to all of this wasn't that surprising, given her clan and their affinity with food, Teke, however, wasn't aware her eyes widened as the hands met the table, expecting something bad but being quickly relieved, kind of. "Well, I mean, I've tried spicy and that was nice but I've been very selective with stuff so far because it's all new and kind of scary." Even Teke could see what was coming and it concerned her a little but it wasn't all that bad but becoming a guinea pig for a whole bunch of foods could and probably would get very weird but maybe having a good basis on what she does and doesn't like will be helpful. "In the end, I'm just taking this all one step at a time, all this new... everything, hormones, food, drink, robotic body parts. All happening at the same time, it keeps me up at night just, wondering who I am now." Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was just something she needed to get off her chest but it really was difficult at the moment as her body chemistry caught up with her brain which was already stressed from the new food, the missing arm and just generally her shifting outlook on life as the curse of the Youkai blood was being washed away by the Kami.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Lord Steward leaned back into his chair as he considered his past. It was a very long and storied thing. It was chronicled. He considered what Teke had said. The concept of pain was something that was not foreign to the Steward. He fought against pain and pushed beyond it. He did so out of a necessity. He would quietly mull some things in his head. "At one point more than likely."<i></i> He finally answered. "I perhaps put it out of my mind because of what had to be done at the time... which is not a foreign concept for me. I put many personal things out of mind, for the good of the realm. Someone has to do so."<i></i> He answered in a simple but grim fashion. Sousuke did not ask for the mantle of leadership, he did not enjoy holding it, but he did it out of a necessity. Things had to be done. Sousuke had spent the most of his adult life in a way most others did not. Most adults sought partnership in some way or another, unfortunately Sousuke had no real place or ability to do so. Sungakure had to come first. There was Yume, and that if anything was a vacation for a time. It was pleasant, and something most worth having. Unfortunately when your nemesis is one Ishii Shouki, having a relationship with another individual becomes a dangerous thing. On the flip side Katuso had seemingly done so with Naganisa, but Sousuke wondered how his cousin was able to do so with the mantle of leadership. Granted it was a hushed matter for the most part.

Sakura would simply stare at Teke. Maybe the word stare wasn't right, but she was gawking at her. She would turn her head to the side to look at Sousuke and she would mouth out the word 'blood curse?' Sakura was very much used to a civilian lifestyle. She heard stories, but she herself was a very ordinary person. She was surrounded by wealth, but she wasn't decadent. Sakura understood that there was a thing such a 'sorcery' which in her mind was really just ninjutsu. The concept of there being a blood curse was foreign. Sousuke didn't react at first to the woman giving a parroted soundless version of the word. After a moment he made a gesture of sorts which was one of acceptance.

Teke spoke of being kept up at night with the thought of who she was now. The Lord Steward, expressionless as usual answered in his always neutral tone. "You are Takahashi Teke. First of her name. My ward. Grand-daughter of Masashi Chiyoko and Takahashi Judori."<i></i> Names had power, and so did words. Sousuke managed for a fleeting moment a small smile. "You are treasure. Never forget that."<i></i> He would add.

 

[Teke]

She couldn't help but smile, it was true after all that she was all of those things and she was probably more thankful than Sousuke could ever realize. He'd dragged her from a life of either rotting in a cell, or breaking free, eating her fill and quickly being put out of her misery by people much better than the old her. Had it been a difficult transition to go from a wandering cannibal nomad to a trained Shinobi? Yes. Had it been an arduous and painful road to meet with her Misstress and be given all this power that she'd no idea what to do with? Of course, it had, she'd nearly died twice trying to understand and use it and chances are it wouldn't be the last time such a thing would happen to the young lady. But through it all she'd been supported by this adoptive family who even though they may have not understood her did all they could to make her feel like a part of the family and honestly that was what she needed to veer her off the path of total darkness though she wouldn't call her path illuminated now it was a damn sight better than it once was.

"You're right. You gave me a family when no one else would and without that, I'd probably be dead already. You're the only reason I never went back to that asylum and razed it to the ground. I think it'll be hard to find out what my new self is but I've been through hell already so I can't turn away now, right?" She giggled and leaned back in her seat a little, a smile on her face.

She let her thoughts settle for a moment and then raised her arm as a waiter was passing by, grabbing another drink, this was tasty. Teke had made note of Sakuras confusion about the cursed blood and figured it might be prudent to explain it just a little bit, if she was going to be around a bunch she was gonna learn weirder things eventually anyway. "I'm sure you know of the Youkai and the Kami, right miss Sakura?" She asked between a mouthful of wine. "Avoiding all the gory detail, I have... had the blood of all three running through me. Cursed Blood from the Youkai, Holy Blood from the Kami and what is known as Spiritual blood which, all humans have, even you. The place I went to, where I lost my arm was where I learned of this and where I began the process of purging the Cursed blood to embrace my... godhood as it were." She took another big gulp from her glass and placed it on the table with a slam. "That's about as easily as I can explain without going on for hours about the hows, whys, wheres, and whens." She chuckled and looked up at Sousuke looking quite pleased with herself and much more relaxed, though that was mostly the alcohol it seemed being able to vent to someone who understood even a little was quite therapeutic.

[WC - 519]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sakura looked at Teke, then back to Sousuke, then back to Teke. The explanation provided was a simple one, but it was with powers that were well above her. "Uh.. I mean sorta? I sorta tend to ... not think about those sort of big things. Most Youkai are ... the stuff of nightmares. I ... uh ... don't really know about the spirit blood thing. I mean ... I know Sousuke is a double 0 negative, and I'm a B positive. That's science and medicine ... answers, but I don't think it's ghost-like or anything of the sort. Maybe? I mean I'm missing something in this." Sakura spoke with great hesitancy. Both Sakura and her father were supporters of House Takahashi, but they were financers and commercial power. Sousuke himself raised an eyebrow about the spiritual blood remark. It caused him to look at his own mechanical hand for a moment. There was something off put about that. "Well... I may not have much in terms of knowledge of these sorts of bloods, godhoods, and the like ... but I can tell you... I know shopping. If your ... dad? Yeah. Dad. If he permits it, I'm going to take you out of the town. Can't have the Steward's daughter looking average!"



***



The evening continued without a hitch. Sakura's party finished pleasantly. While Sakura was subjected to surprises from Teke, Teke was subjected to a surprise of the Akamichi's own surprise. With no argument, Sakura had planned a shopping date with Teke in the week to follow. Suffice to say there were no arguments to be had from Sousuke's end. He did give Teke a look to suggest that she go along with this shopping trip. It was only fair as Teke had more or less broadened Sakura's world in terms of the things that were out there.



Sousuke and Teke made it home and Sousuke indeed went to work on the arm he had promised Teke. Sousuke was working on said arm at a work bench. He had a magnifying glass out as he was looking over the circuirtry. From his mechanical hand he had little tweezers coming out from his finger tips as he worked on the arm. "I do think ... you may have spooked Sakura a little bit. Not that it was wrong, but her father is... he is a brawler, but he is not a man for genjutsu or for ninjutsu. Nobu very much likes his financial position... in terms of power." He explained as he worked. He pause for a moment. "Hand me the screw driver. The green handled one."